News Item

Four Lander baseball players selected in MLB Draft

June 13, 2016

GREENWOOD - A record four Lander baseball players -- Brandon White, Colby Lusignan, Will Jones and Zach Daly -- were selected in the 2016 MLB Draft on Saturday. This group surpasses the 2014 draft, which selected three Bearcats.

White, a junior right hander from Chapin, S.C., was selected in the 12th round as the 349th overall pick by the Atlanta Braves. White was a 3rd-team D2CCA All-American selection, as well as a 1st-team All-Southeast Region selection. The Chapin, S.C., native was also named first-team All-Peach Belt. He finished his junior campaign with a 4-2 record and a 1.12 ERA.

White set Lander single-season records with 33 appearances and 14 saves this season. He is Lander's career leader with 73 appearances and 27 saves. As a freshman, White set the single-season record with 29 appearances and tied a school record by recording 12 saves en route to being named the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. In 2016, White allowed 10 runs, five earned, on 29 hits in 40.1 innings. He recorded 60 strikeouts against just 14 walks and held opponents to a .192 batting average.

Lusignan, a senior first baseman from Eustis, Fla., was the 833rd selection and went to the Miami Marlins in the 28th round. Lusignan was named a D2 CCA second team All-American; first team ABCA/Rawlings All-Southeast Region; and honorable mention NCBWA All-Southeast Region, All-Peach Belt Conference. He started 58 games and batted .390 with 14 home runs, two triples, 20 doubles, 61 runs scored and 37 walks. In PBC statistics, he was third in on-base percentage (.493) total bases (158) and hits; fourth in plate appearances (285), doubles, RBI, and slugging percentage (.669); and fifth in at bats (236), home runs; eighth in walks, nintyh in batting average and 10th in runs scored.

Jones, a senior pitcher/infielder from Cordele, Ga., was the 848th selection and went to the New York Yankees in the 28th round. Jones, the Southeast Region Tournament MVP, was named second team ABCA/Rawlings All-Southeast Region; second team NCBWA All-Southeast Region and All-PBC. On the mound, Jones posted a 10-3 record with a 3.51 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 110.1 innings pitched. He batted .254 with four homers, eight doubles, 23 runs, 24 RBI and 17 walks. In PBC statistics, he was first for pitchers in games started (17) and innings pitched, second in wins, and seventh in earned run average. Jones set a Lander single-game record of 13 strikeouts in 2016 against Young Harris.

Daly, a senior outfielder from Gastonia, N.C., went in the 37th round to the Marlins and was the 1,103rd overall pick. He was named third team D2 CCA All-American; third team NCBWA All-American; first team NCBWA All-Southeast Region; second team ABCA/Rawlings All-Southeast Region and All-PBC. Daly played in all 60 games and batted .291 with a school-record 23 home runs, one triple, 10 doubles, 65 runs scored, 77 RBI and 28 walks. He was 7-for-10 in stolen bases. In PBC statistics, he was first in home runs and RBI, second in at bats (251) and hit by pitch (17), fourth in total bases (154), sixth in runs scored (65), and eighth in slugging percentage (.614).

The trio joins four other Lander players who were selected in previous drafts. Pitcher David Wilson was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 17th round in 2005, while 2014 saw pitcher Mason McCullough go to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth round, infielder Erik Lunde to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 18th round, and outfielder Patrick Grady to the Tampa Bay Sting Rays in the 33rd round.